LORAIN -- Lorain Pastor Kareem Smith and his congregation of 100 will have their first official worship service Sunday at 11 a.m. in the gymnasium of Toni Morrison Elementary School at 1839 W. 40th St., Lorain.

Since Nov. 4, Smith's non-denominational congregation of Faith Word Community Church has been meeting at the school every two weeks.

This Sunday, and every Sunday thereafter, the congregation will meet for services at 11 a.m. in the school gymnasium.

What makes Smith unique among members of the clergy is he has seen life from both sides of the proverbial fence.

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Smith, 39, is a native of Oberlin but was raised in Elyria.

"My family moved to Elyria when I was 12," Smith said.

At age 19, Smith said he found himself caught in the grip of hopelessness and despair. He was arrested and charged with aggravated drug trafficking. The young man was facing prison time that could have kept him behind bars until he was a middle-aged man.

He was convicted and sentenced to serve from three to 15 years in prison.

Smith credits his uncle, Dwight Brown, of Lorain, a steelworker at the Lorain mill, as his lifesaver and the person whose guidance and direction got Smith thinking about a new path in life.

"Even before I was arrested, my uncle encouraged me to walk a different walk. And he continued in the same direction. He just never gave up on me and continued to pursue me and show me forgiveness. He provided me with a much-needed affirmation and mentorship from day one. I credit him for saving my life," Smith said.

After the cell door at Lancaster Penitentiary slammed shut, Smith said his uncle continued to keep in touch with him.

"He would approach me from time to time. He was the first person after my arrest to express his love," said Smith of his uncle.

"He told me, 'I know you did wrong. But I love you, and God loves you. It was an expression of Christ-like unconditional love. Later that day, I gave him a call. I told him, from that point on, I was surrendering my life to the Lord. I will always remember the date. It was Feb. 12, 1993, nine days after my arrest," Smith said.

Smith eventually served two years in prison and was paroled in 1996.

That year, he met his future wife, Renelle, while both worked at Invacare in Elyria. They married in 1998. Today, they have four children, Isaac, 9, Dominick, 6, Miriam, 4 and Selah, 2.

In 2004, Smith moved his family to Chicago where he attended the prestigious Moody Bible Institute, graduating in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in pastoral studies.

From there, the Smith family moved to Cincinnati where he became senior pastor of the River of Life Church, a position he kept until 2011.

At that point, Smith and his family moved to Dallas, Texas, where he attended the Dallas Theological Seminary for graduate studies. He was called back to Elyria in 2012 because of a job opening at Church of the Open Door.

"I served as pastor of discipleship and care, a dual role and dual responsibility. I was also in charge of adult bible fellowship classes. I also handled funerals, counseling and home visits," Smith said.

The first meeting of his new congregation, Faith Word Community Church, took place Oct. 26 at Lorain County Community College. On Nov. 4, a "preview service" occured at Toni Morrison Elementary School.

"It is a temporary meeting location until we get a permanent facility worked out," Smith said. The church pays a flat fee for rental space at the school.

"We want to provide an environment where families can mentor their children. If you don't have healthy families, you don't have healthy communities. We're providing families with everything they need to do this. The kids need to be next to their parents in church so their parents can instill values in them," Smith said.

"There's no better teacher for a child than his parents," Smith said.

"Many people in churches today have lost sight of God's heartbeat. Our families need to experience the love of Jesus Christ in some way, shape or form, through our acts of kindness," Smith said.

"We want to impact communities for Christ. We want to step out of our comfort zone and create systems in the church to provide a context for mentors and community developments programs that are Christ-centered. Some churches concentrate on the spiritual and ignore the social action. We want to impact both as Christ called us to do. We have a goal to partner with some of the organizations in the area as well as churches that share the same heartbeat," Smith said.